Nana came to our house for a few days this week. There were a couple of days of cooler weather so we decided to head to the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm to pick up some pumpkins. We fed the animals, took a hay ride, and picked out our very own pumpkins. It doesn't look much like fall and there weren't that many pumpkins to pick from but you have to take what you can get when you live in Dallas where the season of Fall really doesn't exist.
On our way from Killeen to Waco, this car passed us. I couldn't resist breaking out the camera and taking a picture. How funny (or deranged?)!
In Waco, we stopped at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum. You could spend a full day just reading all the plaques about the Texas Rangers. They had every gun you could imagine on display.
One exhibit let you try putting a gun together.
Michael was a pro. This gun didn't weigh as much as some of the other ones they had on display. There were a few that weighed 5lbs.
Jackson enjoyed the Forensics Area. He laid down right inside of the chalk outline.I was tagged by Meredith to list 7 Random Things About Me. In order to show that I will give in every now and then to a list, I thought I'd comply. Random things are fun and you never know what you'll find out about someone.
1. I cannot stand to have my tongue, teeth, or lips touch the wooden stick of a Popsicle. It is like nails on a chalkboard. Freaks me out. I eat until I can start to see the wooden stick and then I start pulling the Popsicle off with my fingers.
2. My favorite time of day is when I first lay down in bed. It's the best feeling to finally stretch out and get under the sheets.
3. I do NOT like peanuts or peanut butter put together with chocolate. You'll never catch me eating a Snickers, Peanut M&Ms, or anything with the combination.
4. I love watching re-runs of The Cosby Show, Full House, and (don't hate me) Beverly Hills 90210.
5. I always make a list before I go to the grocery store but, without fail, I always come home without everything I need.
6. I'm a morning and night person. I used to just be a morning person but since having a baby, I've become a night person too. I can wake up early and function well. I can also stay up late and (after catching a 2nd wind around 10pm) can have a great time.
7. The idea of having to decorate my house (or a new nursery) completely freaks me out. The complicating thing is I'm really tight with money so I want my house to look fabulous but don't want to spend the money to make it look that way.
There you go. Now I am going to Tag....Chrissy, Lena, and Stacy. Let's see how random you are.
When I walked into the living room this morning, this is what I found. I asked, "Do you have on a shawl?" to which Jackson replied, "I'm superman!". Silly me...always thinking like a girl.
No pictures for this post, just some thoughts. Let me set-up the event. This morning I knew we needed to go to the doctor to get his cough checked out and we needed to go get a haircut (especially since he has school pictures tomorrow). There are only two places we go that Jackson will start crying before we even walk in the door...the doctor's office and the haircut place. What a fun morning for me! Anyway, we made it though the doctor's office with just a few tears and then while getting a haircut he only cried during half of the cut. At least he sat in the chair by himself this time, the times previously he's stood in the chair with his arms around my neck. So I think we have it made. We just needed to stop by Target and then we were going to have some pizza for lunch (reward for being a big boy at the doctor and haircut place) before heading home.
Jackson hates to ride in the cart so I let him walk. He had the "you're about to have to sit in the cart" warning and then it all went downhill. While I was getting a box of Kleenex, Jackson proceeded to climb into the shelf of toilet paper and hide behind the large packages. Once I drug him out, I immediately placed him in the cart. Let the screaming and sobbing begin. People were stopped in their tracks and staring like I was abusing my child. I kept walking when I noticed a Target employee walking towards me. As he got closer, I realized he had a cookie in his hand and was reaching it out towards Jackson (whose eyes were luckily looking the other way). I wanted to scream "You want me to REWARD my child for acting like this?" but instead I said politely "No thank you" and gave him the evil mommy eyes.
That's my beef...I know the man was thinking he was doing the right thing but really. Doesn't he know that had I allowed Jackson to have that cookie, my future shopping trips would have be nightmares? I firmly believe in giving Jackson something to look forward to after something that he fears so much (like the doctor or haircut) but to give him a cookie for throwing a tantrum in the store....umm, not going to happen.
We have finally decided on a name! After nights of talking about it and after watching all the credits roll on tv shows and movies with the hopes of seeing something that will catch our eye...we have landed on Grayson Lee Wall. Grayson is just a name that we like and Lee is the subtle way the Vinson family (my family) carries down names. My dad's middle name is Lee and my middle name is Leigh.
Jackson is spending the week with his Nana and Papa so hopefully when he gets home we'll move away from calling the baby Umbrella and we'll start referring to him as Grayson.
By the end of the day Saturday, we were all exhausted and ready to get back to Dallas. It is never easy waiting on the airplane when all you want to do is get home. Jackson was tired (hence the blanket and thumb in the mouth) but still excited about flying on the plane again. These are some pictures of him watching for the plane at the airport in Lubbock. I remember sitting in the same place waiting for the planes when I was little. Funny how he enjoys the same thing. 
This past weekend we travelled to Lubbock to participate in the Walk to D'Feet ALS. All of my dad's immediate family and even some of his cousins and extended family participated in the walk. We were a pretty big group.
The walk was 3 miles (so they said...it felt a little longer). We all started off together but wound up breaking away as the walk went on. Jackson did good by riding in his stroller most of the way. Since he rode, we were able to come in #28, #29, & #30. All in all it was a fun time to be together with family. I recommend it for anyone who has lost a family member to a disease like ALS, cancer, or Alzheimer's.
Well, we have to wait no longer. We finally know whether baby Umbrella is a boy or a girl. The woman doing the ultrasound this morning was the sweetest lady ever. She knew we wanted to know the sex of the baby and kept going back down there until the little one finally let us take a peak. It was neat because as she was looking and taking pictures for the doctor, she explained every little thing to us. It's amazing what they can tell from a baby less than 1 lb and only half way to term. She looked at the baby's lips to check for a cleft palate (no cleft palate), she looked at the space around the baby's brain, she counted bones in the legs and arms, she even counted fingers and toes. I'm very grateful (& humbled) to say everything checked out great. It was reassuring to have her explain everything to us (that didn't happen with the doctor who delivered Jackson). Anyway....after the baby finally decided to uncross its legs....we saw (& might I say SAW VERY CLEARLY) that we are having a baby BOY! That's right, I am going to remain the only female in the house and I am thrilled. No names as of now. We'll stick with Umbrella until a more appropriate name is agreed on.
My camera has been found. It was sitting on floor next to a doll house in the Special Needs Classroom. Not sure how it got on the floor next to a doll house but at least it has been found!
These pictures were from last week. Jackson has decided it is much more fun to climb all over the police car rather than drive in it. He has even found a way to dunk the basketball. His new phrase is "I'm on the highest mountain" whenever he's standing up on something tall. Too funny!
Last night we went to the Plano Balloon Festival. We'd love to show you great pictures but we didn't have a camera. Somehow yesterday while we were up at the church, I misplaced my camera. I'm hopeful that we'll find it but right now we are without. It stinks!
Without pictures, I'll have to try to just explain what we saw last night. It was amazing. We arrived after the evening balloon launch but we did get to see all the balloons in the air over the park. After eating some incredibly fattening food (corn dogs, turkey legs, ice cream, etc) we settled in on the grass to watch the balloon glow. There were probably 20 balloons (nothing compared to what the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta has I'm sure) and some of them were even special shapes. We saw a tree with birds, a huge daisy, a panda, and a dinosaur. Once the balloon glow started, Jackson was in awe. He'd help do the count-down to "All Burn" and "Twinkle Burn". When we thought is was about over, the announcer said that since the weather was perfect (which is was) and the pilots were agreeable, they'd open the field and let everyone walk amongst the balloons. This is when we really wished we had our camera. It was the most surreal experience. It would be dark all around and then they'd do the glow and the area would just light up. You could even feel the heat from all the balloons. If you ever get a chance to go to this, you need to go. Jackson loved it and we all had a blast.
(If you'd like to see a few pictures, we each have some in our phones but that's all the proof we have of the evening.)
The other night Michael and I were playing with Jackson and we decided to see what he thinks. We've had the discussion of "What's in mommy's belly?" and he appropriately responds "a baby" but we thought we'd take it a step further. We'll be finding out the sex of the baby on Tuesday so we decided to ask Jackson what he thought we should name the baby. Immediately, without any hesitation, he said, "Umbrella". When asked about the middle name, he said "Big One". So we'll introduce you to Umbrella Big One Wall!
Thinking this was a one time shot, we asked him again last night what we should name the baby. Again his response was "Umbrella". Until we have a name for the baby, we'll refer to he/she as "Umbrella"... we could do "Umbi" for short. Funny!
While some recognize 9/11 as the day we were terrorized on our own soil, we have been celebrating on 9/11 for longer than I've been alive...and longer than my dad has been alive. My dad (Grampa) and his mom (my Mammaw) were both born on 9/11. So...Happy Birthday to Grampa & Mammaw!
Jackson was playing with the checkers and noticed that he made "Mickey Mouse". He was so excited he started to build Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse out of checkers.
Jackson has found his way into our game cabinet. Checkers was the game of the day today. We'll see what he finds to play tomorrow.
We enjoyed another vegetable from our garden this evening. We had a bell pepper that remained the same size for almost a month now. Rather than wishing it would grow bigger, we went ahead and picked it. Tonight I was planning to make stuffed peppers anyway so I just stuffed the mini bell pepper and used it for Jackson's plate. It was just his size. Can't let anything go to waste right?
This past Thursday Michael's grandmother went home to be with the Lord. She was diagnosed with cancer earlier this summer but the Lord decided He was ready for her to come home to be with him this week. Michael & I have often spoken of how blessed we are that Jackson's great-grandparents are a part of his life. We have no doubt that Jackson will always be able to recall great memories of his Great-Grandmother Wall. While we'll miss seeing Grandmother here, we know that she is finally at home and we will see her there someday.
(this picture was taken June 23...Grandmother with her 4 great-grandchildren)A couple of weekends ago, Michael took Jackson down to visit his family in Houston and I went to have a girls weekend with old friends from college. About 20 of us who were all in the same sorority got together for dinner and fellowship. Afterwards, 11 of us stayed the night in Grapevine and hit Grapevine Mills the next day. Despite the crowds of people during tax-free weekend, we had a great time and enjoyed catching up. It's amazing how much has changed in 8 years (since college graduation)....we laughed about how we get excited over sales at the Children's Place and we all have our clocks set for Sonic Happy Hour. We all agreed that we're in a different place now but it's a good place.
(Crazy that 5 out of the 20 of us are pregnant in this picture! I can't even begin to count the number of kids there are between all of us.)
The brave ones who hit Grapevine Mills on tax-free weekend!Jackson has a little Elmo book that plays various songs when you press the buttons. He loves to press them and try to sing some of the words and dance. This afternoon he was dancing and singing to his book without knowing I was watching. As soon as I got out the camera, he shut down. Wouldn't you know it? I did catch a little of it though.
Some of you have kept up with our first garden. In May we planted 2 beefsteak tomato plants, one grape tomato plant, one squash plant, and one bell pepper plant with great hopes of not having to buy tomatoes, bell peppers, or squash all summer. Above you will see the fruits of our labor....no, not the pretty tomato in the bowl, not the great looking grape tomatoes in the container, but one piddly squash. Sure we had about 4 grape tomatoes earlier in the summer but they didn't make it in the house after Jackson found them on the vine. All that labor for one squash. We'll see what the remainder of the summer/fall brings us. There's always next year right?
Last weekend my parents were going to be in Midland for a few days so I decided to brave the road and take a mini road trip with Jackson. We drove down on Thursday and drove back on Saturday. It was a quick trip but we got to see my parents, my Mammaw, and my niece Emily. It was well worth the drive. Below are a few pictures. One of the highlights was our walk over to the garden that the residents of Manor Park (the retirement community Mammaw lives in) have. They grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables and allow any of the residents to pick the produce and take it home. When we got there, most of the stuff had been picked (apparently they come out at dawn and pick their produce) but I did find a really pretty red bell pepper. I let Jackson hold it and before we knew it, he was eating it like an apple. His face was red from all the juice. He LOVED it.
This morning Jackson & I had a lot of errands to run so I thought we'd start off by going to the park and letting him get some energy out. We were in Frisco so we went to the Frisco Commons Park. I forgot about Jackson's hatred of dirty feet and had him in sandals so the park full of sand and wood chips was not any fun for him. Luckily Frisco Commons Park has a lot of green grass and plenty of other places to play other than the playground. Anyway, we walked down to the globe water feature and the fun began. Jackson started off by just putting his hands in the water but before long, he was ALL in! Why not I thought? I always have an extra pair of clothes and a towel in the car so there was nothing holding us back. I did feel bad for the poor mom that was watching us with her little girl all nicely sitting at the picnic table. When we started to walk off, they were walking down. Last I heard of their conversation before we got too far away, the little girl was begging her mom to take her shoes off so she could play in the water...hee hee hee..JPG)
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I've always wondered what Michael's mom went through when she raised Marc & Michael. Two one year olds...two two year olds...two three year olds. It makes me tired thinking about it. Last Monday, I got a small taste of it. Jackson and I kept Brady all day while his dad worked and his mommy was out of town. Brady is just 5 months younger than Jackson. The whole day they were running and into all the toys we had. I finally got them outside hoping that the pool and sprinkler would help burn some energy. By the time lunch came, all of us were ready for a nap. Below are a few pictures I was able to snap in between all the running. We had a great day but I must say that I am glad I only have one 2 year old little boy...not two!
